The ship soon came into port and was docked before Theo and Lillie stepped off.
"Looks like you're feeling better.", she said cheerfully.
"Yeah, just glad I'm not in bed anymore.", Theo chuckled, "You think you'll see the Queen again?"
Lillie shook her head.
"She spared me on the condition that I tell nobody what I encountered on that voyage."
Theo looked a bit sympathetic.
"I'm sorry about Angus."
Lillie sighed.
"I loved him, but his greed for wealth and fame caught up to him.", she said before trying to look cheerful, "But, since we're here, let's stop for something to eat."
Theo observed the area and noticed they were in some sort of boat harbor though their vessel wasn't the only antique boat around. Still, the place seemed like it had advanced a few decades by the way people were dressed and the early cars parked. Some were even dressed differently while others were dressed similar to them as they made it to what looked like another inn.
"Man, this realm keeps my attention sharp.", Theo muttered.
"Did you say something?", Lillie asked.
Theo slapped on a smile.
"No, just…hungry that's all."
They had just gotten to the door when a roar of applause came from inside. Once they came in, Theo noticed that Hyde was on stage and clearly having a ball as three attractive ladies in sparkly dresses stood near his side.
"Hold your pause, the shows just begun. Don't walk out or you'll miss out the fun."
Theo rolled his eyes.
"Show off."
Theo and Lillie got to a table as Hyde and his back up singers finished and Hyde took a running leap off the stage and was at their location looking eager.
"Well, look who it is.", he said smiling before looking Lillie's way, "And who is this lovely thing?"
Theo frowned and smacked Hyde's hand away. As he did, he noticed it was Hyde's right hand where he had a gold ring on his pinkie finger which had a nail long enough for Hyde to snort his "magic powder" into his nose if he chose to. On his other hand, he had two other rings, but Theo wasn't in the mood to bring it up or for games. Unfortunately, the card with Princess on it fell out of his pocket and he swiped it before it hit the ground, but Hyde still saw it.
"Wow, what kind of thing is that?"
Theo suddenly smiled.
"Get us a room and a meal, then I'll show you."
/
A while later, Theo and Lillie were in their room with Hyde who was looking a bit peeved.
"I can't believe you actually got me to pay my performance money just to get you guys this room for the night."
Theo took out a small plastic bag with what looked like a small pile of white powder and Hyde changed tunes as Theo handed it over.
"So, you two know each other?", Lillie asked.
Hyde was about to unzip his new bag, but put it away instead before grinning Lillie's way making his gold tooth sparkle.
"Oh yeah, I met him not long after my first night partying. Was going to meet this lovely singer named Ivy who had invited me to her club, but on the way there, I bumped into Theo."
Theo flinched.
"Yeah, and you tried throwing me into the bus that was parked nearby and without any kind of apology I might add."
Hyde looked a bit guilty.
"Hey, that was my first night of night fun and I couldn't recall the last time I had it.", he admitted, "But anyway, so what's with the card you showed me earlier?"
Theo just flicked the card and after a flash, Princess appeared in her monstrous form before shifting into her girl form which made Hyde's jaw drop.
"How is this?"
"Hyde, this is Princess.", Theo stated, "We met last night."
Theo waved a finger in the air and instantly, Princess returned to her card as it appeared in Theo's hands before he turned Hyde's way.
"So, what brings you here?"
"The usual.", Hyde answered casually, "Me and the Hydettes were invited to preform our signature song and you know I can't pass up an opportunity like that. But on the way, I heard something that made me a bit nervous."
"Like what?", Lillie asked.
Hyde lowered his voice as he beckoned Theo and Lillie to lean in close.
"There are strange creatures roaming around that look like they're keeping an eye out for someone."
Hyde then leaned out and got to the door.
"Well, my encore is coming up.", he said before looking over his shoulder smiling, "By the way Theo, there's a guy here who says he works for some kind of biochemical lab. If you hurry, you might catch him."
/
After Lillie had settled in for the night, Theo looked her way a bit nervous.
"You sure you're going to be okay?", he asked.
Lillie nodded.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine.", she assured him, "I've already made plans to catch the train tomorrow to make it to my part of the realm."
Theo smiled.
"Til we meet again I guess."
Theo then hurried outside to see that a car had started driving away. Theo ran after it, but it was soon outdistanced.
"Darn it.", Theo thought, "Now how am I going to-"
He paused and then took out his new dice.
"I just hope this works.", he prayed as he let it fall.
The dice landed on 3 this time and a car materialized as if out of nowhere though nobody else seemed to be paying attention to anything. Theo had just gotten in when a wolf howl rang out and the place grew quiet.
"Well, that's not good.", Theo thought.
That was when the people outside started hurrying inside and slamming doors while boarding up windows as Theo noticed in his rearview mirror that the werewolf that he had met twice before had shown up yet again.
"You got to be kidding.", he thought sarcastically.
The werewolf then charged Theo's car and Theo hit the gas the moment the car started. Luckily, the werewolf managed to keep up for a while, but soon, it was far behind.
"Good thing I'm able to drive.", Theo admitted, "Now, just follow the road and hopefully, I'll get to my next destination."
After about another hour of driving, as the horizon started to lighten, Theo found himself facing a city strongly reminding him of Chicago though this one seemed a bit smaller except when he got about a hundred yards away from its limits, the car stopped suddenly and vanished entirely causing Theo to land on the road.
"Dang it.", Theo thought, "Looks like I have to walk the rest of the way."
Theo got up and after dusting himself off, started walking down the hill towards the city unaware that Ted (who had gotten a good distance to see him even at a distance) had paused and shifted painfully back into his human form. Even as he cringed to himself on the road, a ghoulish smile was on his face.
"Clever move on your part Theo, too bad I have to kill you when the next night rises."
So what if he had to rest for a bit, he'd be on Theo's trail the moment he got his strength back. Unfortunately for him, once he started to rise up, a van speeding along knocked him off to the side where he hit his head on a rock and was out cold.
/
Theo had barely made it into town when noon had officially started.
"Man, I'm bushed.", Theo huffed before yawning, "I need a place to sleep."
Theo had just managed to keep awake when he came across what looked like an old apartment building about three stories high and made it to the stairs when a chuckle made him stop.
"Oh, look what blew into town."
Theo paused, but looked annoyed as two young males came out clearly looking like something Theo wanted to avoid.
"Looks like someone out of town.", one said.
"And he's probably back from a costume party for his freaky kind as well.", the other added with a cruel snicker.
Theo felt his rage simmer.
"I don't want any trouble gentlemen.", he said firmly, "Leave now, and I'll-"
"Oh, you don't want trouble do you?", the first said smiling, "What are you going to do?"
"Probably something wimpy like soil his-"
Theo just flipped a card and Princess appeared instantly in her monster form and gave a sharp hiss which made the two dart off.
"Thanks.", Theo said as Princess returned to her card.
Now that the "unwanted attention" had been dealt with, Theo went inside to the cheep light green carpeted floors and light orange painted walls straight to what looked like the front desk and rang the bell.
"As long as I'll get a room, I'll at least get some sleep."
Then the door opened again and Theo turned to see a young man around the same age as the two he had met earlier only he was wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, brown sneakers and a dark blue sweatshirt. He had short brown hair, and blue eyes which he then noticed Theo with and came up.
"Oh, hi there.", he said with a bit of nervousness in his voice, "You moving in?"
Theo smiled back.
"I'm only staying around for a while.", he answered, "I don't usually stay in one place very long in this part of the realm."
The man chuckled only Theo could tell this was a friendly one.
"Yeah, I feel the same way.", he answered before looking a bit sympathetic, "Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm…Quinten. Quinten Kremmer."
Theo shook his hand that he extended out.
"I'm Theo.", he said as he let go of Quinten's hand
The door behind the desk opened and an old looking man in a white stained tank top and baggy shorts came hobbling out with a suspicious look on his face.
"What do you want?", he asked gruffly.
Theo put on a straight face.
"I was hoping if you had-"
"One room, seven hundred bucks a month, no bargaining!", the manager snapped rather fast before looking a bit sly, "Luckily for you, I got a bargain. A room next door to this guy here and I'll cut rent in half."
He mentioned toward Quinten and reached into a desk drawer for a key.
"Sounds like a steal.", Theo stated.
The manager raised the key and put it on the desk.
"Enjoy your stay."
/
As Theo and Quinten made their way up the stairs to their rooms, they started to get to know each other.
"So, what brings you to these parts?", Quinten asked.
"I'm just here to find something.", Theo answered, "What about you? You live around here?"
Quinten looked a bit shy.
"Yeah, I'm..just starting work as a security guard at a biotech company."
Theo looked interested.
"Really? Anything going on in there or are you not allowed to know?"
"We just scout out the area and keep trespassers out while the chemists and researchers do their jobs.", Quinten answered, "Not much goes on though. Makes me and Papa Nick's job easy."
"Who?", Theo asked.
"My co-worker.", Quinten explained, "I met him a long time back and he's been kind of a father figure to me. Helps me get over myself."
Theo chose not to press any further as they reached their floor. As they did, the door next to Quinten's apartment opened and a young woman about Quinten's age walked out wearing high heels, a black skirt that came to her knees, a white shirt and a dark gray coat walked out. She had brown hair that came to her shoulders and brown eyes with red lipstick on, but she paused as she noticed the company.
"Oh, Quinten.", she said a bit surprised, "How unexpected."
Quinten blushed.
"Sorry Stephanie.", he admitted, "I was just..um.."
Theo stepped in before Quinten froze up.
"He was just welcoming me to the neighborhood.", he said cheerfully, "Name's Theo."
"I'm Stephanie.", the woman answered, "Quinten and I are neighbors for a while, but I need to get going."
/
As Stephanie left, Quinten helped Theo find his room.
"Well, if you need anything, I'm right next door."
Theo gave Quinten a warm smile.
"Thanks Quinten. I think I'm going to like it here."
He paused to yawn and Quinten then noticed his tired looking eyes.
"Theo, you look really worn out."
Theo shrugged.
"Yeah, I..had a rough night.", he admitted, "An old friend met up with me and I had spent most of the night trying to get here so I could use a little sleep."
Quinten appeared to accept that and Theo unlocked his door and opened it to reveal a very large open room with a kitchen attached, a fridge, and a stove.
"Well, at least I'll get a shopping trip in since a convenient store was nearby.", Theo thought as he walked in and closed the door behind him.
As he came into what he would guess was the bedroom, there was a mattress with plain covers and a single pillow which Theo flopped into and was out like a light unaware that he was being observed. Outside his window looking in was the same bat winged faceless serpents flapped but the force behind them was clearly focused.
"Looks like Theo made his way there and my…attack dog is out of commission at the moment. Guess I'll just have to find someone else who could be cold, merciless, and sadistic enough for my dirty work."
The serpents flew off and it wasn't long before they came over what looked like a middle-aged man wearing a light brown trench coat, brown shoes, beige pants, a black shirt and was holding a bottle in one hand.
"No! He's already out of his mind and lacks any kind of killing instinct."
The serpents flew on, but the man looked up and missed seeing them, but shook it off as he ran a hand through his white remaining hair and took another swing of his bottle.
"Never thought that…I'd see something like that.", he hiccupped before dropping on to an old sofa that someone had put out, but nobody bothered to claim it, "God bless America."
And after a couple of moments, he was out and snoring while the serpents had continued flapping around til they finally caught sight of something and paused to perch on a nearby rooftop.
"Hmm, someone who kills for thrills, has little to no conscious, and an easy mind to alter. He'll do perfectly for the time being or until my attack dog catches up."
